The Two Sides Of The Construction Litigation Coin: What Exactly Is Going On, And How To Approach It

If you made mistakes as a teenager that could potentially hurt your career as an adult, learn from my family's experience on how to help with that situation.

The Two Sides Of The Construction Litigation Coin: What Exactly Is Going On, And How To Approach It

14 March 2019
 Categories: Law, Blog


Construction litigation is the pursuit of a lawsuit involving a construction project. Like any branch of law, it has two sides. Each side has its own subset of problems. To get a really good idea of how this branch of law works and to determine if you have a case and how to approach it, the following is provided. 

When You Are the Contractor

When the case involves doing the work but not getting paid, you are the primary litigant suing for payment. This is when you and your crew have constructed something, built something, remodeled something, etc., and the consumers have not paid what was agreed upon and owed. Hence, your primary issue for your lawsuit is getting the money out of the consumer. Unfortunately, unless your consumer is a government agency, this happens all too often, and it hurts your business. Still, you can sue for money owed, sue for lawyer's and legal fees, and anything else your lawyer says is legal to sue for. 

When You Are the Consumer 

When you are the consumer of construction services, there are two main and separate matters under which you can file a lawsuit. The first matter is not getting what you paid for. In this scenario, you paid for specific materials, according to the contractor's bid or estimate. The contractor then pulls a bait and switch, wherein he/she uses much cheaper or lower quality materials and pockets the extra money from charging you for higher-priced and/or higher quality materials. The results of this fraudulent action are that your project starts falling apart after only a short time, and/or the dwelling collapses or becomes unsafe for habitation/use. Since it is fraudulent for any contractor to do this, you can sue. (You should also know that this is an uncommon situation, but that it does happen.)

The second matter over which you can sue a contractor as the consumer of the contractor's services is known as "failure to deliver." This typically involves an agreement whereby the contractor agrees (in writing) to complete your project by a specified date and time. His/her bonding and insurance are dependent upon him/her keeping his/her word and sticking to the contract. If he/she stops work suddenly, goes over budget and over the deadline, and/or fails to complete your project by the deadline (with or without notice; does not matter), then you can sue. He/she should not be paid for incomplete work. 

If any of these situations apply to you, then contact a construction litigation company like Wright, Ponsoldt & Lozeau, Trial Attorneys to sue for the compensation you want. 

About Me
teenage mistakes that could ruin adult careers

My son has had the goal of becoming an attorney since he was about 14 years old. Unfortunately, he made a very poor decision with a group of friends when he was 16 that put his future plans in jeopardy. When my son told me what had happened and we received the citation, I knew that we had to hire an attorney to help him through this. I could not see how a small incident such as this should hurt his chances for success when he is an adult. Thankfully, things worked out for us, but it was a long journey which you can follow on our blog.